Cookbook of the Month Recipe – Corn Dogs

While a lot of people tend to turn towards lighter foods – like salad – during the summertime, I tend to want fried foods. Maybe it’s because of the feeling of the State Fair in the air, but nothing says summer to me like a corn dog!

When I came across this recipe in this month’s Cookbook of the Month, I knew I wanted to try it. The recipe comes from Alton Brown – and although he is definitely one of my favorite tv cooking personalities, I can’t think of a single recipe of his that I have tried. Such a shame!

My biggest complaint with this recipe is that the batter didn’t stick to the dogs as much as I think that it should have. You can tell in my picture – you can see a bit of the hot dog sticking through. I wish I would have coated them, fried slightly, and then added another coating. The batter also ended up a bit crispy, which was unexpected – but then again, this probably would have been changed by double “dipping” them.

Would I make them again? They were delicious, but they are a bit of work. I do want to try them again to see if I can perfect this recipe, and I think it would be even easier to do mini corn dogs without the sticks. I’m sure once my little girl gets older, these would be a real treat for a special occasion!

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cayenne pepper. In a separate bowl, combine the corn, onion and buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients all at once and stir only enough to bring the batter together; there should be lumps. Set batter aside and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Scatter cornstarch in a dry pie pan. Roll each hot dog in the cornstarch and tap well to remove any excess.

Transfer enough batter to almost fill a large drinking glass. Refill the glass as needed. Skewer each hot dog on a pair of chopsticks and quickly dip in and out of the batter in the drinking glass. Immediately and carefully place each hot dog into the oil and cook until the coating is golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes. With tongs, remove to cooling rack and allow to drain for 3 to 5 minutes.

* I separated the chopsticks, since I didn’t have enough. I think they were plenty sturdy, but there was a bit of an issue with splinters!

State Fair corndogs are the best!!!!The other night I really wanted a corn dog and I experimented making corndog muffins. Made a corn dog batter and cut up hot dogs and baked them in a mini muffin pan. They were sooo good and definitly fit for the craving. AND.. since they werent fried they were slightly healthier.. right???

I have not tried these but have wanted to. I remember watching him make these on an episode of Good Eats. I know the episode had more about keeping the batter on than it states in the recipe. That always seems to be the best way to work with his recipes. The information on the show really helps. It's actually that way with all of the Food Network shows.

It's good to hear the taste is good on these. I have had a lot of success with Alton's recipes overall.

You should have given it a shot! I've made these dogs before and the key to making the batter stick is to (gulp) fry them twice. I promise once you go for it you'll find that the batter coats evenly and even tends to stick on to the very end instead of falling off mid dog. Now I've given you an excuse to fry up another batch the next time you get the craving.

I cannot help with getting the batter to stick better to the dogs. however, my daughter taught me how to remove splinters. if you rub the chopsticks together after breaking apart, (rub one up and down the other twist and rub until smooth then rub the opposite stick) it will rub them smooth

I've never even had a corndog… I think I need to educate myself in the ways of American food. (What baffles me most is those sweet potato casseroles with marshmallow on the top. Just, what on earth?!) I just know I'd like them though, heh.

I make a cornmeal tempura batter that's similar to this (Texas-Japanese fusion!) and it sticks great. Try replacing half of the white flour with cornstarch. Then, when you get tired of making corn dogs you can use the batter for chili rellenos or yam strips to roll up in sushi.

I made these tonight, not the best. I haven’t fried anything in a longtime. These were just greasy. That’s pretty much all I could taste. However, I did use half vegetable oil, half olive. I think it might have been better to use Peanut Oil.

I wouldn’t suggest frying with olive oil, since the smoking point on olive oil is a lot lower, so you can’t really get the oil hot enough without altering the taste. If the oil is hot enough, they don’t absorb as much of the oil, so they won’t be as greasy. I do think peanut oil would be a better alternative.